From The Bride...Kyle and I met in 2005 in our high school gym class! I was a freshman and he was a sophomore and a mutual friend introduced us. Shortly after that, we started dating and have been pretty much inseparable since!

After almost 9 years of dating, he decided it was (finally) time to propose! He enlisted the help of some of my closest friends to help him, which really meant so much to me. My friends and I planned a “girls trip” to NYC for some pampering and fun girl time. Little did I know they had planned the whole weekend with Kyle and were getting me all dolled up to look my best when he popped the question (seriously, do I have the best friends or what??). With a ploy to go meet another friend in Central Park, the girls and I headed to Belvedere Castle where Kyle completely surprised me by getting down on one knee and popping the question while it quietly snowed around us. It was truly a magical day!

When we started looking for venues, we knew we wanted to stay within New England, as we both grew up just outside Boston and most of our family and friends still reside there. Kyle wanted our venue to be by the ocean whereas I wanted somewhere that had more of garden setting. We began researching separately and ended up sending each other the same website link to Castle Hill Inn. It was absolutely perfect with it's sweeping lawn that overlooked the ocean - we both were able to get what we wanted! We also knew we didn’t want our guests to have to travel from the ceremony location to the reception, so the fact that Castle Hill had a gorgeous tent set-up right next to the ceremony site was another reason we knew it was perfect for us.

After finding our venue, the next biggest decision was picking our photographer, which really ended up being one of the easiest decisions we made throughout the whole wedding planning process! I actually found Ruthie on none other than Style Me Pretty. I was browsing through their local vendors list and as soon as I clicked on her site and saw gold polka dots on the front page, I knew it was meant to be! Oh and the fact that she takes amazing photos! :) When we met Ruthie for the first time, we hit it off right away and left our meeting knowing we had found the perfect photographer. She was so helpful throughout the whole process, I honestly do not know what I would have done without her!

Overall, I knew I wanted our big day to feel inviting, intimate, romantic, and a little glamorous (without being too stuffy)! Thankfully Kyle let me take the lead with color schemes and most of the details so I stuck with my favorites: pale pink, ivory, and gold. I also knew I wanted my bridesmaids in different pale pink/blush beaded gowns, so I rounded up a whole lot of options for them to pick from and then we narrowed it down from there who would wear which one. This worked out so well because the girls were able to purchase dresses that fit their body type and were comfortable wearing. They all looked stunning!

When it came to finding my dress, it was surprisingly an easy process. I didn’t really know what to expect when I went shopping for the first time, but I can say I had a TON of fun trying on beautiful gowns! While I tried on various different styles and silhouettes, I knew I wanted a strapless ball gown with a sweetheart neckline. My goal was to find a dress that had the perfect balance of classic and modern, and the instant the saleswoman helped me into that Amsale “Dahlia” gown, I knew that was it. I had butterflies in my stomach and instantly started to get a little teary-eyed (and silently kept praying in the dressing room that my mom would love the dress as much as I did!!). That feeling of “when you know you know” was SO true for me!

The flowers were soft and romantic and really created that intimate feeling we were going for by incorporating a lot of white and pale pink and some greenery. Joyce at Stoneblossom Florals created the most beautiful arrangement that was placed on the arch at the ceremony site. It was truly breathtaking and was the talk of the night amongst all of our guests! We used large baby’s breath arrangements for the head table (repurposed from the large arrangements that sat at the beginning of the aisle during the ceremony) with smaller floral arrangements in between. Lush arrangements sat in gold vessels on round tables that went oh-so perfectly with the beautiful lace table clothes!

Everything came together so well and the whole day went off without a hitch! We feel so lucky to have worked with such amazing vendors to help create our perfect day!